What is the narrator’s purpose in writing these “confessions”? How do you know?
The narrator’s purpose for writing this confession was because he wanted people to know the kind of person he was. Starting with his childhood days the connection he had with his father and his upbringing as a kid shows that he and his father read books to one another that was written by his mother.
The narrator’s confession also shows that he was faced with violence from his upbringing when his father got into a fight with his older brother, and he the little one was always protecting his brother by taking the blows. This shows how protective the narrator was about his brother until he left his father’s house. Furthermore, the narrator also stole fruits, told lies, got others into trouble, and in addition peeing into his neighbor’s kettle.
The narrator’s purpose for writing this confession was for him to be forgiven for stealing and telling lies that got Marion in trouble, and later he came up with the truth. How I know is that those bad habits he had at a younger age are still with him as he became an adult, in conclusion, he needed forgiveness for everything he had done.
Your comment about Rousseau being exposed to violence in his childhood is an interesting one – especially since it runs counter to some of what Rousseau himself says about how great his childhood was!